Short Story: Waiting For The Bengie Molina
Maybe it’s a good idea to step back and analyze the distaste for the Bengie Molina move even more. Dig deep. Get out the pocketwatches, start them a-swingin’, and head on back to a past life if you must.
It isn’t necessarily that Molina is one of the hardest players to watch, though he is. On average, every seven games, he’ll hit a home run. Everything else that he does on the baseball field is aesthetically displeasing. He can’t score from second on a single; he allows pitchers to control every at-bat he takes; his defense is the first thing to go when he gets tired. But, heck, that’s probably holding him to too high of a standard. Catchers aren’t supposed to be fast, they’re not supposed to be especially good hitters, and it’s a tough …show more content…
Posey has excited Giants fans like no other prospect since Will Clark. That’s over 20 years of waiting for an All-Star position player from the farm. Sandoval was a surprise -- a beautiful, welcome, and rotund surprise -- so the anticipation wasn’t nearly the same. Since the ‘08 draft, though, we’ve been waiting for Posey.
Will he sign?....when does he start A-ball?...now that he’s dominated A-ball, when does he get promoted?...now that he’s hitting well in AAA, when do we see him in the majors?...now that he’s in the majors, is there a chance that a St. Bernard can get a flagon of rum to the end of the bench?
Wait, wait, wait. When the Giants declined to offer Molina arbitration, it was possible that the wait was over. Not so. But I’ll accept the possibility that Posey isn’t ready, that his defense needs work, and that it isn’t a good idea to drop a full-time catching gig in his lap for a team ready to contend. I disagree, but I don’t think I know enough to be dogmatic about it. A year in AAA isn’t going to ruin his development, and it might actually aid …show more content…
There’s no curiosity, no admission that there’s room for intellectual growth in the sport or anything that challenges long-held beliefs.
Forget VORP, WAR, UZR, and the like. I don’t necessarily want the Giants to become a member of the sabermetric orthodoxy. I just want the Giants to think, gee, we’ve finished in the bottom third for runs scored for five straight years. Is that because of the park? Let’s find out. (The answer is no, it’s not the park.) Okay, then what’s going on? Is it a lack of execution on sacrifice bunts and moving runners over? Let’s find out where we stack up to the rest of the league. (The answer is no, the Giants execute bunts and move runners over as well as other teams.) Well, what is it? Let’s get a variety of
It isn’t necessarily that Molina is one of the hardest players to watch, though he is. On average, every seven games, he’ll hit a home run. Everything else that he does on the baseball field is aesthetically displeasing. He can’t score from second on a single; he allows pitchers to control every at-bat he takes; his defense is the first thing to go when he gets tired. But, heck, that’s probably holding him to too high of a standard. Catchers aren’t supposed to be fast, they’re not supposed to be especially good hitters, and it’s a tough …show more content…
Posey has excited Giants fans like no other prospect since Will Clark. That’s over 20 years of waiting for an All-Star position player from the farm. Sandoval was a surprise -- a beautiful, welcome, and rotund surprise -- so the anticipation wasn’t nearly the same. Since the ‘08 draft, though, we’ve been waiting for Posey.
Will he sign?....when does he start A-ball?...now that he’s dominated A-ball, when does he get promoted?...now that he’s hitting well in AAA, when do we see him in the majors?...now that he’s in the majors, is there a chance that a St. Bernard can get a flagon of rum to the end of the bench?
Wait, wait, wait. When the Giants declined to offer Molina arbitration, it was possible that the wait was over. Not so. But I’ll accept the possibility that Posey isn’t ready, that his defense needs work, and that it isn’t a good idea to drop a full-time catching gig in his lap for a team ready to contend. I disagree, but I don’t think I know enough to be dogmatic about it. A year in AAA isn’t going to ruin his development, and it might actually aid …show more content…
There’s no curiosity, no admission that there’s room for intellectual growth in the sport or anything that challenges long-held beliefs.
Forget VORP, WAR, UZR, and the like. I don’t necessarily want the Giants to become a member of the sabermetric orthodoxy. I just want the Giants to think, gee, we’ve finished in the bottom third for runs scored for five straight years. Is that because of the park? Let’s find out. (The answer is no, it’s not the park.) Okay, then what’s going on? Is it a lack of execution on sacrifice bunts and moving runners over? Let’s find out where we stack up to the rest of the league. (The answer is no, the Giants execute bunts and move runners over as well as other teams.) Well, what is it? Let’s get a variety of